Neues » semifinal meeting

ST. Austin Seibert Youth Jersey . PAUL, Minn. -- On a night when two of the biggest stars in the NHL were on the ice, Minnesotas fourth line stepped up to help the Wild continue their surge toward the playoffs. Cody McCormick had a goal and an assist, and Ilya Bryzgalov stopped all 20 shots he faced in the Wilds 4-0 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday night. Erik Haula, Mikko Koivu, and Stephane Veilleux also scored for the Wild, who have gone 3-0-1 over their past four games. With four games to play, they hold a five-point cushion over Dallas for the seventh playoff spot in the Western Conference. With Olympic captains Sidney Crosby of Canada playing for the Penguins and Zach Parise of the United States on the ice for the Wild, Minnesota won with huge nights from some of its least-heralded players. The fourth line, centred by McCormick, accounted for two goals and helped keep the Penguins off the board all night. "When you get contributions from your energy guys like we did tonight with Cody and Veilleux, it goes such a long way for the team," Parise said. "I thought those guys had such a good game tonight when they were out there. They were hitting, they didnt give up anything against, defensively, and they got the big goals." The Wild jumped to a 3-0 lead in the first period, scoring on three of their first five shots against Pittsburgh rookie goalie Jeff Zatkoff. Haula started the scoring just 1:42 into the game, chipping a backhand shot over Zatkoffs shoulder on the back end of a give-and-go with Matt Moulson. Haula had spent most of his rookie season on the fourth line, but hes scored twice in two games while filling in for Mikael Granlund, who has missed the past two games with an upper-body injury. Koivu put Minnesota up 2-0 on its fourth shot of the game, scoring his 11th of the season just under 9 minutes in. Koivu carried the puck across the Penguins blue line, waited patiently for Parise to crash the net, then flicked a wrist shot past a screened Zatkoff. Veilleux pushed the lead to 3-0 on a gift goal from Zatkoff. McCormick fed the puck into the slot, where Veilleux corralled it, spun and fired a shot that was headed wide of the net. Zatkoff tried to glove it, but he mishandled the puck and it trickled behind him and into the net. "They got three goals on six shots in the first period and got out to that lead," Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said. "We were certainly from behind in this game and couldnt generate a lot going the other way." Bryzgalov posted his second shutout since being acquired by the Wild on March 4. He was steady throughout and made a pair of outstanding saves in the second period to keep the shutout intact. First he sprawled to his right to rob James Neal with a stick save. A few minutes later, he kicked out his right leg just in time to stuff Lee Stempniak, who was alone at the left post after a rebound off the back boards had bounced out to him. "We were pretty good defensively, but they had a bit of a push right from the start," Wild coach Mike Yeo said. "They had some shots, but he just settled everything right down. He looked so calm and in control and the team definitely feeds off that." With four games to play, Pittsburgh has all but wrapped up the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference. So while Saturdays outcome wasnt ideal, Crosby said the Penguins wont overreact to the loss as they prepare for the final week of the season. "Just play the right way," he said of their approach heading down the stretch. "We know what that is. Weve done a pretty good job of it. Its just a matter of making sure we find that urgency here for the last couple." NOTES: The game was played before 19,409 fans, the largest crowd for a Wild game in the history of Xcel Energy Center, which opened in 2000. ... McCormicks assist on Veilleuxs goal was his first point with the Wild. He and Moulson were acquired from Buffalo on March 5. ... Parises first-period assist was his 500th NHL point. David Njoku Youth Jersey . -- Thirty years ago, the Detroit Pistons beat the Denver Nuggets 186-184 in triple overtime, a game that remains the highest scoring in NBA history. Odell Beckham Jr Jersey . He was signed to help with depth to the receiving corps because of the loss of Shamawd Chambers to the 6-game injured list. http://www.brownsrookiestore.com/Customized/ . The Yankees made the moves before Tuesdays game against Baltimore. Robertson was listed retroactive to Monday. Robertson posted two saves in three games as the replacement for retired Yankees closer Mariano Rivera before getting hurt.BARCELONA, Spain -- Top-ranked Rafael Nadals clay-court struggles worsened Friday as his 41-match winning streak at the Barcelona Open ended with a three-set loss to Nicolas Almagro in the quarterfinals. Nadal was looking for his ninth title in Barcelona but lost 2-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4, a week after going out in the quarterfinals of the Monte Carlo Masters to David Ferrer. Nadal, widely considered the greatest clay-court player of all time, hadnt lost in Barcelona since his debut as a 15-year-old in 2003, although he missed the tournament in 2010. He had not dropped a set here since the 2008 final. The 20th-ranked Almagro converted his second match point, smashing a forehand down the line for his first career victory over his fellow Spaniard on the 11th try. "I had a lot of opportunities in the second set," Nadal said. "I didnt take advantage of break points, so credit goes to him." After failing to convert any of his five break points in the second set, Nadal missed a return in the tiebreaker to give Almagro a 6-5 lead. Almagro followed up with a crosscourt forehand winner to level the match and end Nadals streak of 44 straight sets at the tournament. Both players were steady on serve until an exchange of breaks made it 4-4 in the third, and Nadal then sent aa shot long to be broken again and give Almagro a chance to serve for the match. Denzel Ward Browns Jersey. Nadal set up two straight chances to break back, but hit a forehand long and then sent a smash into the net with Almagro out of position. Nadal then saved the first match point when Almagros backhand flew wide. But Almagro used a serve-and-volley to save a third break point of the game before Nadals long return set up the second match point. Nadal hadnt been eliminated this early in back-to-back clay-court tournaments since 2004, when as an 18-year-old he also failed to get past the quarterfinals in Stuttgart and Bastad. "This is an important win for my career," said Almagro, who celebrated wildly. Almagro will face Santiago Giraldo in Saturdays semifinals after Philipp Kohlschreiber retired with an injury while trailing 6-4, 4-3. Earlier, Kei Nishikori of Japan and Ernests Gulbis of Latvia overpowered opponents to set up a semifinal meeting. The fourth-seeded Nishikori continued his good run since returning from a groin injury with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Marin Cilic of Croatia, while the ninth-seeded Gulbis dismissed Teymuraz Gabashvili of Russia 6-1, 6-4. Gulbis saved all five break points against Gabashvili, who had knocked out the fifth-ranked Ferrer. ' ' '